How can India become a Bio-manufacturing Hub in the next few years
- A “free, open, and prosperous” Indo-Pacific area is what the United States, Australia, Japan, and India are working to ensure and promote through this informal strategic discussion.
- The long-pending “Quad” Coalition was formed in November 2017 by Australia, Japan, the US, India, and the US to devise a new plan to prevent any influence—particularly from China—on the vital sea routes in the Indo-Pacific region.
- A joint declaration known as “Spirit of the Quad” (2021) advocates for an open, free rules-border grounded in international law in order to enhance security and counteract threats in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
- In contrast to NATO, the Quad chooses to carry out cooperative military drills as a sign of unity and diplomatic cohesiveness rather than having mechanisms for collective defence.
- willingness to deepen the alliance by forming a “Quad Plus” comprising, among other countries, Vietnam, New Zealand, and South Korea.
- Climate change, vital and emerging technologies, infrastructure, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and maritime domain awareness are among the areas of cooperation that were identified during the QUAD summit in 2021.
- In order to collaborate with like-minded partners and promote a diversified, open, and interoperable telecommunication ecosystem, the QUAD is working on 5G technologies and vendor diversification.
Bio and quad manufacturing:
- In biotechnology, the potential for quad cooperation is yet not fully realised.
- The creation of a biomanufacturing hub led by the Quad in India will provide the impetus needed to advance this collaboration.
- Biomanufacturing is the process of producing chemicals and materials on a large scale using living systems, especially microbes and cell cultures.
- Up to 60% of the physical inputs into the world economy are predicted to be producible with this technology, which has the potential to completely change the industrial system.
- China and the United States have created particular strategies to sculpt their bioeconomies in recognition of the necessity to optimise this environment.
India and the Quad bio manufacturing:
- By 2025, India is envisioned in its National Biotechnology Development Strategy as a “Global Biomanufacturing Hub.”
- It establishes the hub’s goal at $100 billion.
- For the purpose of addressing supply-chain vulnerabilities and taking use of India’s economic potential, Quad ought to set up a biomanufacturing hub there.
- The complementary qualities of the quad nations can be utilised to establish this hub.
- The United States have substantial finance capabilities, while Japan, Australia, and the United States all have highly developed biotechnology innovation ecosystems and intellectual property.
- India has the capacity to produce on an economical scale and has skilled labour.
- India is the best location for the biomanufacturing hub due to its established infrastructure, knowledge in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and labour pool.
- India is among the top achievers in the field of biomanufacturing, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, in terms of both the share of research publications and the quality of research output.
- India has great potential for low-cost biomanufacturing, especially for the production of equipment, reagents, enzymes, and research supplies.
- Analysis: Compared to the United States, India has about 33% lower manufacturing costs.
- To become a global leader, India still needs to improve its capability and capacity.
The physical surroundings of biomanufacturing in China and India:
- In the next three to five years, India wants to boost its fermentation capacity tenfold to 10 million litres in order to establish itself as a major hub for biomanufacturing.
- China has stated that it wants to dominate this market.
- Small-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are already dominated by it.
- India introduced a production-linked incentive programme in response to worries about China’s hegemony in the API market.
- $2 billion was given to the pharmaceutical industry to produce related goods, APIs, biopharmaceuticals, and essential raw materials.
Way Ahead:
- India needs outside assistance to achieve its goals, especially from its Quad partners, in order to facilitate its early development.
- India and the Quad will suffer from a reliance on the biomanufacturing industry.
- To support India’s ambitions to lessen its reliance on China, the proposed centre can help connect investors, create a biomanufacturing fund managed by the Quad, and enable knowledge transfer.
- India must improve the calibre of its labour force if it hopes to grow the biomanufacturing industry.
- The nation’s life science specialists do not have access to state-of-the-art equipment and training.
- Permanent training facilities with experts from other Quad countries delivering the instruction can be set up in institutions surrounding the Quad hub.
- India has recently changed its policies to permit the founding of international universities and to support student exchange initiatives.
- Commercialising research and development, a common problem for non-U.S. companies, should also be emphasised in training. nations that make up the Quad.
- Cross-Quad collaboration: An office for research collaboration can be established by the biomanufacturing hub, which can also host all ongoing bilateral government initiatives.
- In order to guarantee supply chains for the Quad nations and promote international collaboration, the hub can harmonise language, legislation, and data-sharing surrounding biomanufacturing.
- Streamlining will increase efforts to collaborate inside the Quad and open doors to collaborate with countries outside of the Quad as well.
- The biomanufacturing industry’s economic potential can be leveraged by the planned hub in India, which can also mitigate current and future vulnerabilities within the global system.
- India has the potential to rise to prominence in the biomanufacturing industry and support the Quad in this vital sector.
